GAME REPORT

Rivas Ride Strong Second Quarter To Victory At Gospic

Rivas Ecopolis finally won in this season's EuroLeague Women after a dominating second quarter at Gospic Croatia. Losers of three straight, in stark contrast to their fast 7-0 start of one year ago, Rivas outscored Gospic 27-13 in the second frame and ended up winning 92-75.

DeWanna Bonner had 30 points and 13 rebounds for the Spanish outfit.

She did much of her damage at the free-throw line, making 10 of 12.

Rivas faced a 20-16 deficit early in the second quarter when they took control of the game, and it was a Tamara Abalde three-point play that put them on their way.

Abalde was fouled by Iva Badanjak while making a jump shot and she sank the free-throw to spark a 23-6 run for a 39-26 Rivas lead.

During that stretch, veteran point guard Elisa Aguilar had five points and three assists, Amaya Valdemoro six points and Bonner five.

Two Bonner free-throws gave Rivas a 43-30 lead at half-time.

The advantage ballooned to 65-44 with 2:06 to go in the third when Swede Linnéa Liljestrand drilled a three-pointer for Rivas.

Javier Fort's team cruised the rest of the way.

Valdemoro finished with 17 points and Courtney Paris 12 for Rivas.

Michelle Maslowski and Sandra Mandir had 19 points apiece for Gospic, who are 0-4.

COACH QUOTES

Quotes Gospic Croatia vs. Rivas Ecópolis

Stipe Bralić, head coach Gospić Croatia Osiguranje:"We played tonight's game unexpectedly worse than [we had originally] planned. The rhythm of playing Saturdays and Wednesdays along with the travelling has shown that we could not keep up with a team like this even though we knew their strength. We lost the aggressiveness from our previous games and of course, the opponents used this to their advantage. This time, their offensive jump was left an unsolved puzzle for us."

Sandra Mandir, player Gospić Croatia Osiguranje:"We fought as hard as we could, but the other team was much better than us in all aspects and we have to congratulate them."

Javier Fort, head coach Rivas Ecopolis:"I am very satisfied with the way the girls played. We played the way we did because we knew that Gospić played pick-and-roll so we adjusted our offense to that type of playing and won. The domination of our team was noticeable under both baskets so were our tall players, Bonner and Paris."

Amaya Valdemoro, player Rivas Ecopolis:"We are very happy that we won in this game; that was very important for us. Gospic played well, but we were more successful."